Yesterday was the 20th Towers session of the year, so to cap of a great season on the hill, we set out to conquer the infamous beer mile. Traditionally done on a track, we figured it would be much more exciting and generally more hardcore if we did it on the Fort Collins Trail Runners' track: The Big Hill.

Pete's nutrition plan hangs from his neck.

The route went from the Nomad intersection to the Loggers intersection, which according to various GPS devices is exactly, or just a touch over a mile with 700 feet of vertical climb. To add to the general epicness of the event, we received our first real snow dump of the year in the 24 hours prior, and it was still coming down as the silliness got underway, oh and the thermometers were reading a chilly 10 degrees.

The Beer Mile Start

There were three race divisions among the 10 assembled runners: men, women, relay. Competing in the boys' race were myself, Pete (who had been playing up his drinking prowess for weeks), Alex, Slusher, and Bryan; in the girls' race Celeste, being the only entrant appeared to be the odds on favorite; while in the relay, the remaining girls (Marie Helene, Mary, Ean and Jennifer) would run the course together taking turns on the beer-consumption aspect of the race.

Beers were placed at quarter mile intervals up the hill, and a finish line was marked off in the snow at the Loggers signpost. At the top, Pete described the quarter mile penalty lap (a further quarter mile of running up the hill) that would be mandatory for anyone who blew chunks.

From the gun, Pete managed to live up to his pre-race talk by getting his first beer down a good ten seconds before Alex and I. By the quarter mile mark, I had pulled within five seconds of Pete, who appeared to be in a spot of early trouble. Despite some thunderous belches, I was finding that the beers were going down well, and that the running-with-a-gut-full-of-beer part was actually not too bad. I out-drank Pete by a landslide on beer number two, and headed out for the halfway point with a clear lead.

Official photographer, Mindy, was manning the third aid station (with perhaps the brightest headlight known to man), and she had an appetizing line-up of beers on offer. I was probably halfway done with my penultimate beer by the time the second bead of light appeared on the scene. To mine and Mindy's surprise, it was Alex, not Pete, followed soon after by Slusher. There was chatter of rainbow arcs and snow tigers at the second aid: Pete was clearly in trouble.

With the third beer down and a big lead, it was just a question of keeping the frothy mess down during the big half-mile climb to the finish. Ean was at the final beer station, camera in hand, and let me tell you that last beer was a true pleasure. As I was finishing up my 48th ounze of frothy Coors nastiness, Alex pulled in with what looked like a commanding lock on second.

Look at that form!

Alex nears the finish line

Belching all the way, I crossed the Loggers finish line with my lunch intact in a standard-setting 18:25. Alex crossed in 19:50, breaking the 20 minute mark comfortably. Third overall, in perhaps the most impressive performance of the night, was Celeste who had posted a strong back half to overtake her husband Slusher between beer three and four.

Performance of the night. Celeste outruns, outdrinks and outplays her husband.Bryan in fourthSlush in fifth

Indeed Slusher ended up being edged out by Bryan for fourth in an exciting slow-motion sprint for the finish. The relay team posted an impressive sixth-place finish and then we all hung around at the top waiting for Pete to finish off his penalty quarter and claim his wooden spoon.

Just the one beer for Jennifer!

If you're going to make one Towers appearance the whole year, I guess you should make it this one. Marie runs a strong leg for the relay team. Alex and Ean

The descent on the cushy carpet of snow, in a semi-inebriated state was quite the ride, and more than a few spills were taken by most.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Rob had emailed a couple of days ago about bringing around some of his wife's homemade goodness and getting out for a run at Horsetooth, or more specifically for a hard effort to the top of Horsetooth. I, of course, agreed (to both the food and the run), and so at noon today it was off to the races.

Rob is convinced that the fastest way to the top is to go hiking trail as far as the second Southridge merge, then Southridge to its end where it merges back with the hiking trail. My fastest two times have both come by taking Southridge the whole way, which of course has led me to believe that despite being 0.2 longer, it is in fact quicker because of the more predictable footing and lack of switchbacks. Today, I decided to take another go at the (2.34 mile) hiking trail route, as that was what Rob was doing and, well, it's a more engaging route.

With the weather as perfect as can reasonably be asked for in late December (sunny, still and in the 40s) there would be no excuses.

From the get go, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go full on, so eased into things at a strong, but controlled effort. Half way to the Soderberg bench, I decided that I felt good enough that I would give it a proper go. Went past the bench in 4:43 (12 second PR) and rejoined the Rock trail in 7:43 (17 second PR) feeling like things were nicely under control.

The crux of this particular route is the .8 mile stretch of singletrack before the second merge with Southridge. I used to time myself on occasion during longer runs on this stretch and had an 8:22 PR from last year, so figured today that if I could get to the Southridge intersection in anything under 16 minutes I'd be well on my way to a summit PR. Again, feeling largely in control and comfortably under the blow-up zone, I went past the intersection in 15:53 (for a 10 second PR on that .8 stretch alone). From there it was the loose grind up Southridge, a quick sprint across the flat section past the Wathen turn and then the last .5 effort up the rockiest and hardest part of the ascent.

Last time I TT'd The Rock I imploded on this section and dropped to a walk near the top after running the 'wall' entirely too hard, but this time I got through the rocky wall at a controlled effort and was able to keep the torque on my wheels such that I could grind a steady run the whole way to the base of the rock. After dodging a few kids on the summit scramble, I topped out in 23:50 for a huge 1:36 PR.

I am now convinced that I was wrong about the Southridge route, and that in fact it is quicker to take the more technical, but shorter route up the hiking trail. But I'm also going to give myself some credit and say that the PR is part route and part fitness. My PR for the hiking trail all the way is 26:17 from last year, but that is most assuredly slower than today's route (not 2:27 slower, but definitely slower).

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Monday - AM: 7.5 miles (2,000') hard. Horsetooth - Southridge - Audra - North Summit - Horsetooth - Soderberg - Spring Creek - Falls - Home. It was just me and Alistair at the house this morning, with Dana, her mom and Stella at the hospital in Lafayette. Called my neighbor Brad to see if he would be willing to watch Alistair for an hour so I could celebrate the birth of my daughter with a trip to the top of Horsetooth. Brad obliged and I stormed up to the rock (didn't don a watch, but would guess that I was close to PR pace). It was supremely serene on top. I broke the silence by shouting Stella's name at the top of my lungs - yeah, I know! Bumped into another neighbor on the way down and pulled a few markers from Chubby Cheeks as we went.PM - late afternoon: 6.5 miles (2,500'). Green Mountain via Gregory/Ranger w/ jog from Chautauqua. 35:03 up from Greg TH. After hanging with Dana and Stella at the hospital in Lafayette for a few hours, I couldn't resist the urge to go summit Green Mountain, which was sitting smack dab in the middle of the view from the hospital window. I told Dana that I needed to go yell Stella's name from a second peak on her second day on this earth. Dana bought it and I was off. After feeling spry summiting Horsetooth earlier in the day, I figured I would try and get up Green at an up-tempo effort. While I wasn't 'killing it,' I was by no means jogging. Made a note to take splits on the way, but only got the cabin (15:10). Hiked second half of the grunt past the four-way. As promised, I yelled to Stella from my perch atop Green. The descent was slower than the ascent due to darkness and a very weak headlight.PM (2) - Evening: 6.5 miles (1,650'). Met a group from the trailrunners in the Horsetooth parking lot at 11:15 for a late night eclipse-watching jaunt to the top of the rock. We went at a social pace and lucked out with a close to cloudless night. Stopped on the way back down on Southridge as the full eclipse was getting into high gear. The mist completely cleared to reveal bright stars, an orange moon and a handful of shooting stars: Quite the show. Back home at 1:15.

Tuesday - PM: 11 miles (1,100') steady state. 1:16. From my house to Arthurs TH and back via 38e, campground and valley trails. 18:00 to Soderberg, 40:00 O&B from Soderberg to Arthurs, 18:21 home. Ran comfortably hard most of the way, though started out relatively easy coming down the hill to Shoreline - ran almost an even split coming back up versus the down. Steady on the valley trails.

Wednesday - Noon: 8.5 miles (500') easy. To Arthurs and back from Field of Dreams TH.PM: 5 miles easy @ Pineridge.

Thursday - AM: 11.5 miles (2,300') easy. Jogged down to Soderberg to meet Pete, Crystal and Dan T for a jog up Towers (38:30), then cut back home on Westridge/Horsetooth. Beautiful sunrise/full moon morning. I don't always run in the morning, but when I do, I prefer to run on mornings like this.PM - 7.5 miles easy with FCTR @ Pineridge.

I really, really didn't want to do this session, but drove myself to the track anyway as I knew once I was there, there was no way I would back out. Jogged out a two-mile warm-up feeling stiff and slow, while thinking about other workouts that might be easier. I felt uncoordinated for most of the workout, especially the miles. Anyway, the idea behind this workout was to transition between a short-course effort and long-course effort in a bid to make the 5:50s feel easy. For the most part the MP stuff felt good, given how I was feeling pre-run, but the 5:30 miles felt harder than I would have liked. Just a few more visits to the oval, then I can leave it all behind and resume a full mountain jogging schedule.

Sunday - AM: 21 miles steady. 2:19. Overland, Poudre trail, Spring Creek trail. Ran 7:00s to warm up on the 5.5 miles of Overland, then slotted into 6:30s for the remainder. Felt relatively easy for the most part, but form starting breaking down through the last four or five miles and I had to start working a little harder to keep a steady pace. Probably do this run four weeks out from NOLA with the bike path miles at MP as a final hard long workout. Perfect morning.PM - 1 mile around Lily Lake above Estes Park with Dana. Cold, windy and snowy.

Total: 106 miles (12,700')

Still not sure how I'm feeling about 5:50 pace for NOLA. I kind of plucked it out of thin air early in the process and have been trying to train around that number to make it happen. If I don't get my fitness there and still decide to go with it, things could get pretty ugly through the last few miles. I'm hoping the weather for the Littleton 10 miler on Jan. 15 will comply and allow me to get an honest read on my fitness as there really is nothing else of any distance on the CO running calendar that I can race before February.

So anyway, I was able to get out and run pretty much what I wanted this week with my mother and father-in-law staying with us. M-in-L will be back for a week early in the new year, so I should be able to keep the momentum going for the most part. Will run either the Resolution 5k Jan. 31, or the New Year's 5k Jan. 1 to get a read on fitness. Hope to take the tail-end of next week a little easier so I can toe the line with somewhat rested legs.

Went over 4k miles on the year on Christmas Day, so the only goal remaining on that front is to out-run GZ who is currently tracking very close to me on the 2010 mileage front.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Tues - Noon: 6.5 miles (1,500') easy. Southridge - Horestooth - Southridge. Set cairns for Horsetooth section of ChubbapaloozaPM: 14 miles track. 3 miles warm up, then 2x4 mile @ MP with one mile jog between; 2 mile c-d. First four were right where I wanted them to be effort-wise, but had to work for the last two miles on the second set which has me worried and thinking I should be stepping back and looking at maybe 5:55 pace for the marathon. First four went 5:50, 5:47, 5:46, 5:50 (23:13), but lost focus on the second four and my pacing was all over the place: 5:55, 5:46, 5:54, 5:45 (23:20). Not a great workout as far as confidence is concerned, especially after a crappy race at the Xmas Classic on Sunday, but I'm hopeful that things will start to fall into place in January. Ultra training is so much easier - no worrying about pacing and numbers, just go out and run a bunch.

Thurs - Noon: 4.5 miles (900') easy. Falls Loop. Final cairn creations for The Chub.PM: 10 miles (1,900'). Towers TT. 31:10. Put in a reasonably hard effort on a cold night. Yet another impressive turn out from the hardy FCTR crew. Twenty on hand in sub-zero conditions. I've been in this medium-hard zone on Towers for a while now. I know what a full-on effort feels like and I just haven't wanted to take myself there in the last couple of months - probably because it hurts so damn much. Maybe when there is light again I'll take a stab at Sam's record, but I don't think anyone will touch it until the spring.

Got to make the most of it while my mother-in-law is in town helping out with Stella and Alistair in order to keep the mo going for NOLA. Had planned a peak-mileage week of 115 or so for this last week, but won't go chasing mileage this week to make up. Will continue with the vague plan I'd had for the rest of the training block, which is to focus more on quality over quantity. Hadn't had a day off of running in 67 days before Saturday, so the forced rest was probably a good thing. Still finding it hard to get out on the roads, but I am at least getting to the track on a weekly basis.

Monday, December 20, 2010

So I hope you all had great weekends. Mine, in abbreviated form, went something like this:

Friday

5:30pm: Receive phone call that my heavily pregnant wife (37 weeks) has been involved in a car accident on the way home from her last day of work before a planned eight-month maternity leave. She has been rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. I experience a moment of sheer panic, then scoop up Alistair, jump in the car and head for Lafayette, which I think is south of where I am. I figure out the directional details on the way.

6:30pm: Alistair and I arrive at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Lafayette to find Dana safe and sound, but seriously shaken up. All baby vitals, we are told, are as they should be. The wave of emotion is immense. I learn that Dana was rear-ended at high speed on I-25 and that her stomach slammed up against the steering wheel. All manner of thoughts - mainly negative - run through my mind.

Saturday

12:30am: sent home by on-duty doctor after the decision is made to keep Dana at the hospital for further observation, after being assured and reassured that the measure is purely precautionary. To bed at 2:00am.

6:00am: Get out of bed after a very restless night and get ready to start runners in the 7:00am wave of a 50k running event that has been in the works for months, and which begins and ends at my house.

7:00am: Get call from Dana that the doctor has requested that she stay under observation until 6:00pm because of a three-minute heart deceleration on the baby's chart during the night, meaning the original plan to head down to Lafayette to pick her up after starting the 8:00am runners has been ditched until further notice.

8:30: Cancel my ridiculous plan to get out and run some miles on the Chubby Cheeks course.

10:00: Head out to Arthur's trailhead with Alistair to hang out with Chris Hinds who is manning the back-of-the-pick-up aid station in high spirits. Enjoy a beautiful morning and early afternoon with Alistair and Chris, and random runners as they file through.

1:00pm: Head back to the ranch to greet runners and play host, while trying to maintain a positive attitude and demeanor.

4:30pm: Kick out the stragglers and head back down 287 to Lafayette.

6:00pm: Arrive at the hospital with Alistair to be told that everything is fine, but that Dana needs to stay in for further observation. Sent home. Drive hour back.

8:00pm: Get Alistair in bed, post some pics from the race, then get call from Dana that the doctors have decided to play it safe and induce (three weeks early) ... just as soon as I can get back to the hospital.

9:00-11:00pm. Arrange a sitter for Alistair (thanks Amy), wait for Dana's mom to get in from DIA after having just arrived from Las Vegas. Hot foot it back down to Lafayette.

Sunday

12:30am. Arrive at hospital. Dana is put on Pitocin drip to begin the process of inducing labor. Crash out on sofa and grab three hours sleep.

9:30am - Amniotic sack is broken and labor begins in earnest.

1:37pm - Dana pushes out a beautiful, healthy baby girl. Tears, hugs and kisses all around. Mother and baby are both in remarkably great shape, and I thank my lucky stars for the great fortune of having such a beautiful family survive what could have been a heart-wrenching Friday. Re-learn the old cliche that nothing in life should be taken for granted.

4:00pm - Kenny and Amy arrive at hospital with Alistair who beams from cheek to cheek when he catches sight of his baby sister, Stella Mae Clark.

So this, of course, is a weekend that I will never forget. Thanks to everyone on Saturday for the positive thoughts and well wishes. I like to think that the positive energy in some way contributed to my family's immense good fortune. I could and maybe should have ducked out of going ahead with Chubby Cheeks on Saturday, and that was certainly my plan as things developed on Friday, but with the way things played out, I was somehow able to host the event as planned (if not run) and then come out the other end on Sunday with the most positive of all possible outcomes.

Destiny, Karma? Yeah, I don't know, I generally don't buy into any religious or metaphysical philosophies and tend to take most things at rational face value. I guess I subscribe mostly to the pool-ball philosophy on life, and consider our presence in this world ... universe ... space, as being massively random. If I had to believe in a god, I think mine would be a Random Number Generator.

The digits were picked in my family's favor this weekend and for that I am most assuredly thankful.

Thurs - Noon: 8 miles (1,650') tempo'ish. 64:00. My original plan for this run was 10.5 miles out and back to the 3-mile marker on Redstone, w/ the 6 miles on Redstone Canyon Road at tempo, but having watched the wind gust all morning I just couldn't face the thought of battling for a hard effort in the canyon. Instead, I decided to run a more sheltered and hilly trail route in the park at a tempo-like effort with a jog from my house. Managed to get the heart rate up if not necessarily the leg turnover. Will call this one a strength session.PM: 6.5 miles super easy with FCTR/FCRC for the 'Christmas Lights Run.' A 500' vertical beer mile was plotted and will occur Dec 30 on Towers, in lieu of the regular TT. This is a must-do end of year FCTR event. I love my chances of bringing home the gold. All comers welcome.

Sunday: 11 miles. Ran the Xmas Classic 4 miler in 22:31 (5:27, 5:35, 5:45, 5:44), which was a pretty lackluster 42 seconds slower than two weeks ago at the T-Day race. The course is much slower with hills and tons of turns, but still. Legs had nothing from the get go and my breathing was all over the place. Just one of those days. 4 mile w-u, 3 mile c-d. Race report to come.Total: 100 miles (11,500')

We've pretty much got things in place for the Chubby Chubster next Saturday. Pete and I did some cairn marking and other things out there yesterday and the trails are in fantastic shape right now; some ice in places higher up, but largely clear. Forecast currently looks good, so it's full steam ahead. I'll get out and make sure all the missable intersections in Horsetooth are flagged this week, and will hopefully be able to recruit someone to get the Lory stuff marked. I still expect at least 50% of runners to get off course, but just so long as people have maps, life will be good.

Not much else going on. Plan to bang out another 100 mile week next week and then back off a bit so that I can take a stab at finally running a respectable (for me) mid 16 min 5k time at the Resolution Run on Dec. 31.

Towers Time Trial this Thursday at 6:00 from Soderberg. Final Towers run of the year has been scheduled (12/30) as an end-of-year celebration, which will involve approximately 600' of vertical gain over one mile, and the consumption of 4 cans of 5%+ fizzy beverage.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Pete has a description of the 50k course (with pictures) up at his blog. Feel free to study it carefully and print out for the run. A text-only version of the route goes like this (copy and paste into a text doc, print and bring to race):

1. From Nick's house (look for banner over driveway half a mile up Overhill Drive on right) take Overhill Drive to 38e, left and then quick right into Horsetooth Mountain Park (.7)
2. Take Horsetooth Rock hiking trail (by the facilities) from car park (.4) (1.1)
3. Right on Service Drive to Southridge service drive (.2) (1.3)
4. Left on Southridge to Audra Culver (1.1) (2.4)
5. Left onto Audra Culver trail to Horsetooth Hiking Trail (.7) (3.1)
6. Left onto the rocks at end of Audra. The trail is somewhat undefined up the rocks but re-emerges. Follow to north summit of Horsetooth (scrambling required to get on summit) (.4) (3.5)
7. There may or may not be a trivia question on summit that needs answering for proof of summit tag.
8. Reverse steps past Audra turn-off, following Horsetooth hiking trail (look for 'foot traffic only' signs) down to Soderberg service drive (1.5) (5.0)
9. Left on service drive to Spring Creek trail intersection (3-way) (.5) (5.5)
10. Right on Spring Creek, making a left after .4 to stay on Spring Creek on the left side of the valley to Stout (1.0 total) (6.5)
11. Hard left on Stout up the ridge (1.1) (7.6)
12. Left on Herrington (.2) (7.8)
13. Right on Spring Creek (1.1) (8.9)
14. Cross Towers Road and continue straight on Mill Creek trail, being sure to take a left after 1.8 miles to stay on Mill Creek @ intersection with Loggers (3.0 total) (11.9)
15. Marathon and 50k take a left at the Milk Creek Link intersection (shortly after you enter Lory State Park) to Howard trail (.3) (12.2); JV course takes a right down to south valley (.4). At south valley, JV course heads right, reconnecting with other courses, but water will be available .1 up the trail to the left at Arthur's TH, if needed. Pick up directions from no. 23
16. Left on Howard (2.1) (14.3)
17. Right at Timber for scramble up to Arthurs Rock summit (.2) (14.5).
17.5 Marathon route follows Arthurs Rock Trail down to the Arthurs TH (1.3) from the summit. Pick up directions from no. 23
18. 50k route backtracks from summit and continues on Timber, making a hard right after .8 onto single track. Follow Timber all the way down to picnic area at intersection with West Valley Trail. Water is available from a pump at the Visitors Center 200 meters up the service road (north) from picnic area if needed (4.5 total) (19)
19. Right on West Valley to Well Gulch (.9) (19.9)
20. Right on Well Gulch to Overlook (.4) (20.3)
21. Left on Overlook to Arthurs Rock trail (1.6) (21.9)
22. Left on Arthur's Rock to TH (.3) (22.2). Basic aid (water and potentially a few other bits and pieces) will be available at the TH.
23. Right on South Valley to Nomad. Just before you enter Horsetooth Mtn Park, there is an unmarked trail intersection. Continue to the right/straight to enter Horsetooth Mountain Park(1.5) (23.7).
24. Immediately after entering Horsetooth, take the right fork (Nomad) up the hill to connect with Sawmill which should be followed up the hill to the Loggers intersection (1.1) (24.8).
25. Right on Loggers to Carey Springs (.2) (25)
26. Left on Carey Springs to Towers Road (.5) (25.5)
27. Right on Towers Road to Westridge trail (.9) (26.4)
28. Left on Westridge to Wathen (1.5) (27.9)
29. Left on Wathen to Spring Creek (1.2) (29.1)
30. Right on Spring Creek, being sure to head left at 3-way by the creek to stay on Spring Creek after .4 and then staying straight at .8 towards Horsetooth Falls (.9 total). (30)
31. Left on Falls trail all the way back to the parking lot (1.0) (31)
32. Out of the parking lot, left on 38e, quick right on Overhill back to my driveway and the finish (.7). (31.7)

Phew!

The 50k route will be approx 32 miles with somewhere in the neighborhood of 7,500' of climbing (yowzer); the 'marathon' looks to be about 25.5 miles with approximately 6,500' of climb; and the junior varsity (or el Chubbo Pequeño) route clocks in at 21.5 miles and 5,500' of vertical gain. Pete has marathon data here.

By popular local demand, we will be doing three separate starts (from my driveway) @ 7:00, 8:00 & 9:00 (12/18). With the three starts and three route choices, hopefully ya'll can figure out the right combination to get you back to the finish (my house) between 2:00 & 3:00 for tall tales, Pearl Izumi giveaways and whatever food, beer and wine you bring to the table.

On the 50k route, I think faster runners will be clocking a time close to 5 hours at a steady effort, which means mid-pack runners will probably be closer to 7 hours (is my guess). Pete (a 19-hour WS finisher) ran a 28-mile version of the course (6,500') at what he described as a slow-to-steady pace in just over 6 hours. I ran the JV version at a similar effort level in just under 4 hours . I know those time examples are somewhat subjective, but it should give you an idea of what to expect in terms of getting it done.

Marathon elevation profile minus 1.3 to and from my house (150' down at start, 150' up at end). Google map tracks here.

For 50k profile, insert longer and not quite as steep descent from third climb, followed by one mile of flat, 600' foot climb and descent over 2.5 miles, then pick up from bottom of third descent. Almost complete data is available from Rob's webite.

Expect to get lost, so pleaseprint out a map and bring the above directions. There will be light flagging at key intersections indicating a turn. If you reach an intersection without flagging, assume to head straight, but check map to be sure.

Water will be available at 19 miles & 22 miles in the 50k, at 16 miles in the marathon, and at 12.5 for the JV.

Rules:

No whining, no bitching and no blaming the race director for getting lost.

This is a self-timed race ('group run' if asked by someone in a uniform), please bring a watch.

No performance enhancing drugs (Brownie).

Be extra nice to your heavily pregnant hostess, but feel free to launch volleys of smack talk at your host.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Tues - Noon: 4.5 miles easy. Falls loop.PM: 13 miles track w/Sam. Had to really talk myself into this one, which made getting it done all the sweeter. Target was 4(5x400) @ 5:00 pace (75) w/200 jog between intervals and 400 between sets. (78,77,74,74,75); (75, 74, 73, 74, 74); (75, 74, 74, 74, 75); (74, 75, 75, 75, 75). It was an effort to get up to pace as always, but once I found it I was able to stay there through the workout. It's a mind game with that many intervals, but certainly one worth playing - and not just for the fitness payoff. 4 mile w-u, 1.5 mile c-d. Another one in the books.-----------------------------------------------Jan: 252 miles (33,700')Feb: 189 miles (33,500')March: 488 miles (70,000')April: 482.5 miles (72,700')May: 439 miles (79,500')June: 334 miles (49,000')July: 279.5 miles (64,400')August: 302.5 miles (50,100')September: 237.5 miles (53,200')October: 301.5 miles (44,600')November 373 miles (52,900')

Thurs - Noon: 6 miles (500') easy. Valley.PM: 10 miles (1,900') steady. Towers. Warmed up on the valley with 3 miles then Towers steady/hard in 31:03. Given that this felt like a much easier effort than two weeks ago when I went 31:13 on a hard effort, I was pretty surprised to see the low 31 summit. Felt more like a 33 effort. I think I could be hitting some pretty good fitness here.

Sat - 26.5 miles (1,100'). 3:06. From Maxwell lot by the stadium ran the Horsetooth Half course and then continued on bike paths to west end of Spring Creek, with an added and somewhat inexplicable detour on North College by Lee Martinez Park. Cruised the hills on Centennial/23 through the first six or seven miles, then tried to up the pace for the last 17 on the flat bike paths. Ran 6:40s and bonked a bit towards the end. Jogged the last two. Had maybe two sips of water and no fuel, so not that surprising. The hard surface worked my legs, and both hamstrings felt like they were ready to cramp almost from the get go. Not a very comfortable run.

Sun - 4.5 miles easy setting up T&H course. Legs felt fine after yesterday's run, which was a pleasant surprise.

Total: 100.5 miles (6,700')

Legs felt good this morning despite the 26.5 pavement miles yesterday. Pretty happy with the week. Some speed, a hard hill workout and a solid long run, plus, of course, the all-important 100 mile week. Now switching the Tuesday track focus from leg turnover to progressively longer marathon/LT paced intervals for the second half of the training cycle.

We had 51 show up for the Tortoise and Hare 10k race this morning, which is a record number for the three years I've been doing it. Had me in a bit of an organizational tizzy, but it pretty much went off without a hitch. It's kind of hard to deal with 51 separate starts in the space of 20 minutes.

Also had 21 runners for Towers on Thursday night, which ain't half bad for a hard night run up a nasty hill in December. I believe there are 50 or so trail runners from Fort Collins descending on Moab in February for the Red Hot 50k. Trail community is thriving in the Fort right now.

Didn't recognize too many names off the WS lottery. Mike Foote was about it, so I'm expecting the field in 2011 to be a little weaker than 2010, but then of course the three guys who beat me this summer are all planning on running and they, clearly, are the guys to beat right now.

Roes leading at Tennessee ValleyHeras +30 secondsMackey + 2.5 minsDakota ('hurting' but he gave it a shot. Good on ya bud.) +4 mins

Koerner a drop.

6.5 miles to go. Dakota seems to have hit his wall, but went balls out. Gotta love that. Lot of people were talking about Heras pre-race. Obviously an unknown Stateside, but looks to be the real deal, and said to be motoring. That said, Geoff is the best closer in the sport. I do believe we're in for a thrilling finish. Mackey putting up a strong run.

Western States lottery today - not sure when exactly. Here's what appears to be transpiring out in San Fran through 9 miles, with a 'huge pack' at 13.1 according to the Twitterverse (throw a blanket over them, 22 within a minute of each other!):

Sun - 15.5 miles (3,800'). 2:28. Out with Jason on the early stretches of Chubby. Certainly wasn't feeling much like another mountain run after a couple of bigger vert days Friday and Saturday, but ended up pushing out an up-tempo run after a quick initial ascent of Horsetooth. Felt surprisingly good. Yet another beautiful morning and the rut is on. Some decidedly horny bucks out there right now.

Total: 76 miles (14,200').

Despite the slight cutback in mileage from the first half of the week, I felt pretty lackadaisical and a touch sore after the Turkey 4 mile on Thursday. Having already lined up a couple of runs at Horsetooth with others for the weekend, I decided to just push through. The Saturday run was enjoyable for the company, but pretty much a drag as far as the running was concerned. Got after it a bit on the climbs today with Jason and ended the run feeling way better than Saturday.

Determined to get on some pavement next week. A fast 20 on the bike paths lined up for Sunday, a session at the track on Tuesday and Towers TT on Thursday.

Dropped 370 smackers on one race entry last night. Ouch. Looking at the start list for States, (pre-lottery) it looks like nine of the top 10 from this year are scheduled to toe the line in 2011 (Zach Miller being the exception). Some other speedy types also look to be on board from qualifying races with the lottery still to come. Should be another deep field. Hoping to piggy back my marathon training by running American River in April.

Friday, November 26, 2010

I enjoy racing, I really do. I don't care if it's a local 5k, a glitzy big city marathon or a gnarly mountain 100 miler. I just enjoy the energy of being with like-minded people, running against competition, and realizing the harder effort that the added adrenaline allows.

For those very reasons, the Fort Collins Turkey Trot is one of my favorite races on the calendar. There are always a ton of familiar faces, the competition is the stoutest of any race in Northern Colorado, and it's a race that I have done each of the four years that we've been in Fort Collins, with each year being faster than the one previous. If nothing else, this race has been an affirmation that I'm getting just a little bit faster every year. The goal this year, among other things, therefore, was to beat my 22 flat from 2009.

On the competition front, Justin and I had been ribbing each other a bit about the race for a few weeks, and while I think he probably felt like he had me covered, I was also sitting confidently in my corner thinking I might have a shot at taking him down for the first time ever in a road race.

I got to Old Town early enough that I could get out and run the full course as a warm-up. I layered up in full combat gear to ensure that I was genuinely warm on what was a frigid morning for November. The bank displays were reading 15/16 degrees (-7), and the air certainly felt that cold, although the bright sun took the edge off a bit.

At the start I lined up with Justin and jumped around trying to stay warm as we waited for the off. The game plan going in was to ease slowly into the race, but of course as soon as the gun went off I did my normal trick of sprinting from the line like a junior school kid. After a couple hundred meters Justin got on my shoulder and we ran together for a bit. I got a read on his breathing and was surprised to hear him working hard.

Just before the turn on to Mulberry I asked him for a pace check from his Garmin, feeling that it was a little hot, and with the 5:10 confirmation I eased off a touch and let Justin get a few yards on me. Shortly before the first mile, Adriana Nelson (Pirtea) eased by me and I saw Justin do the double take as she went by him. At this point I was feeling nicely in control of the run, so didn't worry too much about the potential chicking.

Splitting the first mile at 5:28, I was a little disappointed, so noticeably upped my effort a notch. Before long I was back on the shoulder of a guy who had just passed me, and was thinking I would ride his wave to catch back up to Justin who was still just a few meters up on me. As I moved ahead of Justin, I figured he would latch on, but rather than shoulder check to see if he had I just kept plugging, knowing that it didn't really matter either way as we were still very much at the blue-collar end of the race. Steve Folkerts edged by us somewhere before we hit the two-mile mark which split at 5:23.

Thinking pre-race that I was going to run 5:20s, I was again a little disappointed with the split, but nonetheless happy with how in control of the aerobic effort I was feeling. With the right turn on to Mountain, I upped the effort a bit more and was soon dissecting a small gap between Steve and another guy. I heard Steve push to latch on, but he didn't hold on for long, obviously still deep in his winter hibernation phase.

All the while, as I was picking up stray runners in the men's field, Adrianna had been holding pretty steady with a good five meter gap on me.

Passing the three-mile marker with a 5:23 split, I could sense that I was starting to reel her in a touch, but very gradually. Having been beaten by Adriana by a couple of seconds last year, I was determined to not let that happen again this time around. We hit the final turn on to College shoulder to shoulder and I upped my pace to a point where a kick would still have been available if necessary, but was just strong enough to build some separation, allowing me to save my fragile male ego without having to look silly by engaging in a sprint for the line. To make sure that Justin or Steve weren't lurking with a late kick, I threw a quick shoulder check, and sensing safety eased into the finish with a 5:32 last mile and 21:49 finish, which was good for 19th overall.

I felt a little disappointed to have taken just 11 second off my time from last year, but given that the conditions were close to perfect then and far from perfect today I'll say that on balance I'm happy with the run. Aerobically, I felt great - totally in control - which means I need to focus on getting my legs to turn over a little quicker. I'm thinking 20x400 for Tuesday.

The comparative calculators still have me running in the low-2:40 range based on that effort, but I know that my fitness works toward the endurance end rather than speed end, so I'm going to call that a 2:37/8 effort. Still plenty of work to be done, but I'm getting there.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Tuesday - Noon: 6.5 miles (1,550') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Falls. Wind was blowing hard, but I was absolutely floating on this one. Been a while since a run has felt as fluid as this, even if it was just a jog in the park. Zero fatigue, soreness or niggles anywhere and just a general sense of fitness, which is a most pleasant sensation.PM: 10 miles track w/ Dakota, Frank and Nick M. 1.5 mile w-u, then 2x1 mile, 1x2 mile, 2x1 mile w/200 jog between miles and 400 jog before and after the 2 mile, 2 mile c-d. Slotted into 5:30 pace and stayed there the whole workout: 5:32, 5:27, 11:00, 5:29, 5:29. Came into this workout thinking the ease of my lunchtime run would carry through to the track, but ended up having to work hard for the two mile and push a bit on the miles. As always, it was about getting 'em done, and get 'em done we did.

Last track session for Dakota before his trip to the North Face race. Maybe he finds himself in a sprint finish for a podium spot ... but really, I think there is merit in these workouts even for a 50 mile race, and especially a race stacked with guys pushing the pace. He'll need to be running comfortably at up-tempo paces in the early going and hopefully find a way to hang on late when things get ugly. I remember on the re-route section of WS100 this year, we were running low 6:00s for more than a few miles, so I am sure there'll be plenty of similar silliness in Marin considering the race is half the distance.

Thursday - Noon: 6 miles (500') easy. Valley trails.PM: 9 miles (1,900'). Towers TT. 2 mile warm up then 31:17 up the hill. Started with Sam who dropped me as soon as the serious climbing started. Didn't have much tonight - almost two minutes off my PR. The snow and ice may have been worth 30 seconds, and the night running maybe another 30 seconds, but still a fairly lackluster effort. Might have been feeling the track workout from Tuesday.

Saturday - 21 miles (2,750') steady w/Sam. 3:00. Out and back from home on Blue Sky. Pushed the last couple of miles coming back and dropped Sam like he dropped me on Towers two days earlier.

Sunday - 15 miles (3,350') easy w/ Jason. Dragged like nobody's business on this one. Jason was pretty spry heading up Horsetooth, and I was content to watch him run away from me. We re-grouped at the top and then enjoyed a tour of the park, with my legs ever so slightly opening up as the run went on. Horsetooth - Westridge - Mill Creek - Valley - Sawmill - Loggers - Herrington - Stout - Spring Creek - Falls - home.

Total: 102 miles (15,000')

Felt pretty tired on the run today (Sunday), so I'm going to drop the mileage this next week in a bid to feel somewhat rested for the big Turkey Day showdown on Thursday, and also to recharge for the last eight weeks of marathon training.

Got to make a decision on Western States by November 27. The main reason to run this race is for the competition, however, there are a host of other reasons not to run it. Firstly, it is expensive and a pretty big time commitment. It would also preclude any serious bid of a fast run at Hardrock should I get pulled in the lottery for that, which is of course far from guaranteed. So if I don't register for WS and then don't get pulled in the Hardorck lottery, I am left looking for a plan B - maybe a long trail speed attempt or just a summer running local peaks and getting ready for UTMB in late August.

Seems like we have this lottery discussion every year around this time, probably because it is frustrating to have to commit half a year ahead for races that are so expensive. Anyway, there are plenty of other more serious issues to be fretting about, so I guess I'll leave it at that and figure things out for myself over the next week.

Need to start running some faster pavement miles over the next two months, but with the fall weather being so nice, I can't see it happening just yet. Perhaps by January we'll have some snow.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Undeterred by the dark and somewhat icy conditions, we had a solid turnout 11/18 for the scamper up Towers. Sam and Jenn Malmberg once again proved their short-course hill climbing prowess by registering the fastest times of the evening. However the intermittent ice and snow underfoot ensured that nobody PR'd except a couple of folk who were out losing their virginity on the hill.

Better conditions for the 12/2 run. Not a breath of wind, temps in the low 40s, and just a few scrapes of ice allowed for some PRs and an FKT. Jenn M continues to lower the standard for the women, while Mike T was first up the hill and was crowned King in an impressive PR. Joselyne also PR'd, as did Slush who continues to get better almost every time he runs the hill - and he runs it often.

For the route and a full listing of times from this year, in addition to other random Towers stuff, follow this link and then the subsequent links from that page. It's a tangled web, but it's all there ... somewhere.

Area Fastest Known Times

I have been accused in the past of making up completely arbitrary FKT routes and putting my name to them. While this may be true, there are actually some reasonably well-established routes in and around town, largely of the hill climbing variety, that have been tested and tracked in recent years. What follows is an attempt to document top times for three of those routes, starting with:

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Tues - Noon: 4.5 miles (700') easy. Falls loop.PM: 10 miles track. Temps dropped today and we got our first bit of snow of the season up at 6,000', but it was just rain in town. At the track in the dark, the weather was actually pretty pleasant. Dakota, Frank and David had already started their workouts, but they hopped in with Chris and I as we got started with the first set of 400s. Workout went 6x400, 4x800, 6x400 with 200 between intervals and 600 between sets. 1 mile w-u, 2 mile c-d. Goal was 75 on 400s and 2:40 on 800s: 77, 76, 74, 74, 74, 73; 2:39, 2:39, 2:40, 2:40; 75, 76, 75, 76, 74, 74. Felt sluggish and uncoordinated. Had to work a bit for the last three 400s, but got 'em done. Another trip to the oval successfully in the books, however, I still feel like a lumbering mountain jogger out there.

Thurs - AM: 8 miles (2,200'). Towers easy (39:00). Got out for the first real snow run of the fall/winter season. Two to three inches of soft pow-pow overnight so blazed the trail up Towers with five others from the FCTR group. Really quite nice out, but donned the ballet gear anyway.PM: 8 miles easy with FCTR social gang in the snow around Pineridge.

Sat - 19 miles (2,000') w/ 2x6 miles @ tempo. 2:15. Jogged the 2 miles down to Redstone Canyon with Dakota from my house, then we went 6:30, 6:25, 6:22, 6:30, 7:00, 6:38, 6:36 up the hill, jogging the last half mile out and back, before going 6:22, 6:21, 6:16, 6:10, 6:01, 5:48 back down to 38e. Warmed down via Milner Mountain and took the long way up and around my neighborhood. Tough workout.

Total: 91.5 miles (13,200')Another good week, although slightly heavier mileage and vertical than planned. Couple of strong workouts in there with another successful trip to the oval on Tuesday and a hard tempo effort at Redstone on Saturday. Rest of the week was mainly jogging.

Will look to put in another higher mileage week before backing off the week of the FoCo Turkey trot, a rendition of which I have yet to miss since moving to Colorado. I have seen an improvement over the 4 mile course each year I have raced, so to keep the streak alive I intend to treat it as a mini-goal race. Pretty confident that I'll go faster than the 22 flat I ran last year. I also feel like I may have my first semi-legitimate shot at taking down Top American in a road race, so want to maximize those chances by starting somewhat fresh.

Exciting stuff setting up for the North Face 50. There appear to be some legitimately fast road guys going up against 4 or 5 of the best endurance trail guys in the country, one or two of the better European ultra guys, and even the best mountain runner of our generation thrown in to the mix. The list is deep on all fronts, and really, it looks like a major toss up, which should make for some seriously good racing. Kind of wish I was heading out there, except it's in December (!) and I was done racing a couple of months ago. Still, it'll be fun to watch from the sidelines. As will the women's race, by the way, which looks to be almost as intriguing.

Predictions? No clue in the men's race, except to say that I think the winner will come from the ranks of the ultra specialists. I'm pulling for recent FoCo arrival, and training partner, Dakota Jones to register the upset. The women's race looks to be between Kami Semick and Ellie Greenwood, with perhaps Devon Crosby Helms, Meghan Arbogast and Tracey Garneau having an outside shot too. Having said that, there are a bunch of other ladies who could be in contention, in what looks to be a refreshingly competitive women's field.

Tues - AM: 9 miles (2,700') easy with Fast Ed and Nick P in Boulder. Chautauqua - Gregory - Green - Green/Bear - Mesa. Scott and I were in town for a meeting with the Pearl guys, so snuck in a morning cruise with Nick P on the Boulder trails. Absolutely beautiful out again.PM: 9 miles track. One mile warm up, then 400-800-1600-3200-1600-800-400. One mile cool down. It was just me and Dakota tonight and we ran every interval in lockstep (although Dakota was on my outside shoulder for every turn, so was technically a bit quicker). Anyway, we were shooting for 5:20 pace on the 400/800 and 5:30 for the mile/2mile, and pretty much hit those splits: 80, 2:38, 5:30, 11:08, 5:29, 2:39, 76. We both dragged on the second mile of the 3,200, but otherwise hit our intervals. Given the morning run up Green, I was definitely working, but it was pretty gratifying to hang in and get 'em done.

Another week in the books, and I've got to say I am enjoying this change of focus to road training way more than I thought I would. A month or two ago, the mere thought of running hard in training made me want to roll over and go to sleep. I now find myself devising wicked hard training days in my head whilst daydreaming on the trail. Weird.

Anyway, the half on Saturday went just about as expected. According to the various different equivalency calculators out there on the interwebs, the 1:16:47 I ran is good for a low 2:40 marathon. Accounting for altitude and total non-taper, I am going to say that I'm more likely in high 2:30 shape. I have a number in mind for New Orleans that right now seems pretty reasonable given my current fitness and the three months of training to come, but you never really know until five or six weeks out where the fitness is going to land. The goalposts will no doubt change as I move through the process.

With all that said, I still consider this little marathon block as no more than base building for the real work to come next season. The obvious goal given the winter speed work is Western States, but I'm still far from committed to that. UTMB became something of a strong possibility earlier in the week, and I would be super stoked if I could make that work, but really there is plenty of time to be thinking about these things. I wonder if teammate Scott Jaime will be cashing in the WS ticket he just won at Mountain Masochist? He's got two weeks to figure it out.